Statement From Sumi Mehta, Vice President, Environmental, Climate and Urban Health at Vital Strategies, on World Pneumonia Day
Nov. 12, 2024 (New York)—“Pneumonia’s devastating toll spans all age groups, but it remains especially deadly for young children, claiming nearly 750,000 children under 5 each year. This makes pneumonia the single largest infectious cause of death in children worldwide. Despite significant global progress in prevention, diagnosis and timely treatment, the rising burden of air pollution continues to fuel respiratory infections like pneumonia, keeping it among the top global killers. Clean air must be considered part of an integrative approach to preventing child pneumonia deaths and protecting vulnerable young lives.
Clean air should be a basic human right, yet, 90% of the people in the world breathe polluted air daily. This exposure not only increases their risk of pneumonia but also contributes to a wide range of noncommunicable diseases, including cancer and heart and lung disease.
Vital Strategies works at the intersection of air quality and health, leveraging the tools of public health to promote healthy and sustainable outcomes for people living in an increasingly urbanized world. As a partner of ENABLE, a project led by the Ethiopian Public Health Institute and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, we are committed to reducing exposure to air pollution in Ethiopian cities. In Ethiopia, air pollution is the second leading cause of disability and death and it contributes to 36% of pneumonia deaths among children under 5 years. Our goal is to create cleaner, healthier urban environments, with a particular focus on protecting pregnant women, and to prevent noncommunicable disease.
Our work to curb child pneumonia deaths starts by addressing air pollution. This includes gathering and utilizing data to track air pollution-related illness, educating the public on how to reduce exposure to major pollution sources, and advocating for strengthening clean air policies in line with the World Health Organization’s health-based air quality guidelines.
This World Pneumonia Day, we, as parents and public health professionals, call on governments, health organizations and communities around the world to acknowledge the escalating global burden of pneumonia and to take immediate, decisive action to reduce child pneumonia deaths.”
About Vital Strategies
Vital Strategies believes every person should be protected by an equitable and effective public health system. We partner with governments, communities and organizations around the world to reimagine public health so that health is supported in all the places we live, work and play. The result is millions of people living longer, healthier lives.
To find out more, please visit vitalstrategies.org or follow us on LinkedIn.
Media Contacts:
Ally Davis, adavis@vitalstrategies.org